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Emancipation Nation: Constitution Day Panel Discussion

September 17, 2012

On September 17th, 2012, National Constitution Day, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History will host a panel of renowned Civil War scholars at the for a performance and discussion about emancipation. The conversation features University of Richmond President Edward L. Ayers moderating historians Eric Foner (Columbia University), Thavolia Glymph (Duke University), Gary Gallagher (University of Virginia) and Christy Coleman (American Civil War Center). The historians will re-create the national scene and the dilemmas facing Americans on Sept. 22, 1862 without drawing on their knowledge of what would unfold over the next few months and years. Perspectives from the White House, enslaved people from the South, military personnel, Frederick Douglass, Northern free blacks, and their allies will be highlighted in this presentation.